Can anyone explain the following examples of my indoor cycling active calories?

anon(631408)

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Can anyone explain the following examples of my indoor cycling active calories? Just FYI - I workout at 2 different facilities (Work and FitnessXpress-FX). Both have similar indoor cycling machines. No changes to my watch or phone over this period of time. At first I thought it was the 2 different places but that doesn't compute with the numbers.

Examples:
Today: (Work) 62 minutes / 131 HR - 622 active calories
Yesterday: (FX) 65 minutes / 124 HR - 272 active calories
Saturday: (FX) 63 minutes / 132 HR - 260 active calories
Thursday: (Work) 61 minutes / 134 HR - 688 active calories
Wednesday: (Work) 61 minutes / 143 HR - 644 active calories
Tuesday: (Work) 61 minutes / 141 HR - 704 active calories
Monday: (Work) 66 minutes / 132 HR - 749 active calories
Sunday: (FX) 61 minutes / 125 HR - 591 active calories
Saturday: (FX) 64 minutes / 139 HR - 728 active calories
 

Dave Marsh

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I believe your heart rate plays a role in the active calorie calculation. I read somewhere that your heart rate must exceed 70% of the maximum heart rate for your age for the calories to count as active. Otherwise, they just role into the total calories burned number.
 

Dave Marsh

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Take 220 - your age, for your maximum heart rate, then 70% of that for your active calorie threshold. Then see if that makes sense with your dataset.
 

Dave Marsh

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Remember, the Apple Watch is calculating your heart rate every 10 seconds during a workout to determine if the calories burned during that interval count toward the active calorie pool, or are just lumped into the total active + resting calorie pool.
 

anon(631408)

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FYI - It is back to the lower numbers for active calories. Nothing has changed. I think I am going to backup and reset then calibrate. let's see what happens.
 

anon(631408)

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After unpairing and re-calibrating, today's workout:
Today: (Work) 62 minutes / 140 HR - 704 active calories

Before the reset/recalibrating
Yesterday: (Work) 61 minutes / 148 HR - 253 active calories

I am almost thinking you might have to re-calibrate every once in a while. Not sure that the resetting fixed it but I am thinking the re-calibrating did. Next time this happens I will only re-calibrate.
 

anon(631408)

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Ok, after 1 week. Everything seemed good yesterday but then I looked at the numbers:
Today:
Indoor cycle: 62 minutes / 128 HR - 255 active calories Elliptical: 36 minutes / 115 HR - 434 active calories
Yesterday:
Indoor cycle: 63 minutes / 125 HR - 612 active calories Elliptical: 49 minutes / 118 HR - 400 active calories

Tell me does any of that make sense? Same arm - snug on wrist - same time of the day.
 

Dave Marsh

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Active Calories?

Active calories are only credited when your heart rate exceeds the threshold for your age. It's not like a Fitbit that counts everything the same. Total calories includes what the watch considers to be resting calories, those earned with a slower heart rate.

When you're working out with the Workout app, the app is taking your pulse every 10 seconds. When you're not using the app, the watch defaults back to taking your pulse every 10 minutes, or so. If you just hop on the elliptical or cycle and don't set the Workout app to the routine you're actually performing, the app will use a different algorithm to make the Active/resting calories determination.
 

tsparks1

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Active calories are only credited when your heart rate exceeds the threshold for your age. It's not like a Fitbit that counts everything the same. Total calories includes what the watch considers to be resting calories, those earned with a slower heart rate.

When you're working out with the Workout app, the app is taking your pulse every 10 seconds. When you're not using the app, the watch defaults back to taking your pulse every 10 minutes, or so. If you just hop on the elliptical or cycle and don't set the Workout app to the routine you're actually performing, the app will use a different algorithm to make the Active/resting calories determination.

Very good explanation, but I think what he's saying is he IS using the workout app and seeing these inconsistent results, at least that's my assumption. But you know what they say about when you assume....
 

anon(631408)

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I am using the workout app every time. I understand what you are saying but the results don't match what you are saying. Just using my indoor cycling numbers. How does the heart rate of 128 (which is higher than 125) have a lower active calorie count and not by a little but by 357? And what is even stranger is I will get good active calories for 5 days and then 2 days they will be way off and then start giving good numbers again without doing anything to the watch or phone.

Session 1: 62 minutes / 128 HR - 255 active calories
Session 2: 63 minutes / 125 HR - 612 active calories
 

tsparks1

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I am using the workout app every time. I understand what you are saying but the results don't match what you are saying. Just using my indoor cycling numbers. How does the heart rate of 128 (which is higher than 125) have a lower active calorie count and not by a little but by 357? And what is even stranger is I will get good active calories for 5 days and then 2 days they will be way off and then start giving good numbers again without doing anything to the watch or phone.

Session 1: 62 minutes / 128 HR - 255 active calories
Session 2: 63 minutes / 125 HR - 612 active calories

Are you using any 3rd party apps in conjunction with the workout app? If so, I would try denying them write access in the Health app to see if that is causing the problem.
 

anon(631408)

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Nope. When I tried to use the 3rd party apps they don't seem to work properly (close that is) so I don't have any third party fitness apps. I only use the workout app. I understand that the workout app might be less than the actual machine I am on but I am just frustrated because I use the rings for my encouragement and if I am only getting 200 calories for an hour on the indoor bike it makes it very had to meet my goal of 1250 for the day. I could always lower my goal but then it might say 800 and yes I reached my goal but it wouldn't have been difficult. I try to push myself and stay consistent but the app wants to go nuts.
 

tsparks1

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Nope. When I tried to use the 3rd party apps they don't seem to work properly (close that is) so I don't have any third party fitness apps. I only use the workout app. I understand that the workout app might be less than the actual machine I am on but I am just frustrated because I use the rings for my encouragement and if I am only getting 200 calories for an hour on the indoor bike it makes it very had to meet my goal of 1250 for the day. I could always lower my goal but then it might say 800 and yes I reached my goal but it wouldn't have been difficult. I try to push myself and stay consistent but the app wants to go nuts.

I understand, the rings do offer encouragement. Have you tried the Apple Support Communities forum? Some one there may be able to offer you some help. Here's a link.
 

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